Читать книгу KILLS 99.9% - Patrick Ottuso - Страница 6

The Primate House of the North Central Zoo in the Bronx was a main attraction for visitors year round. The Zoo consisted of sixteen acres of prime real estate in the north central Bronx. The country-like atmosphere with tall hundred year old sycamores and oaks was in sharp contrast to the surrounding inner city neighborhood just outside the gates of the zoo. While parts of the city were flourishing, this part of the Bronx was slowly deteriorating. Gangs had recently attempted to take over the area while old- school Italian racketeers fought to retain the respect of these new tough guys. While the power struggles continued, this was still the best place in New York to get Italian food, and Louie’s Pizza shop still had the best fried calzones, complete with prosciutto! The primate house sat at the rear of the sprawling compound, abutting a large tract of state-owned land, fitted with large oaks and weeping willows. Despite rising costs for food and animal maintenance, the hours of operation allowed for public viewing daily except Mondays. As a matter of fact, the entire Zoo remained closed on Mondays, with only a skeleton crew on salary for animal feedings. Allison Carter, a part time veterinarian, was responsible for maintaining the health of the primates. Recently graduated from Yale, Allison found herself swimming in debt. Her dad had been an electrician with little savings, and her mom wholeheartedly felt that she should marry “money” and have children. Dashing mom’s hopes, Allison felt the need to follow her passion— increasing the awareness of the plight of the African Lowlands Gorilla. Allison’s love for animals began at the age of three with her first of three beagles. A trip to Africa during her fourth year Zoology internship shed light on the mass killing of primates to allow for the logging of precious wood species. Witnessing the murder of an adult female gorilla where poachers used shotguns and clubs on the animal left a very dark stain in her memory. She could not understand how people could be so cruel to innocent, harmless creatures. It was then she knew that she wanted to become a veterinarian and help this endangered species. Though dedicated, she quickly found that veterinarians specializing in primate medicine were not in high demand. That fact, along with $160,000 in student loans weighed heavily on her bank account every month. Dad helped with whatever he could, and mom had the I told you so attitude with each daily phone conversation.

Allison found much comfort in her interactions with the primates. Their personalities were much like those of homo-sapiens, and Allison was constantly surprised and amused at their antics. It almost seemed the animals knew what days she was working. After pulling into her parking space outside the compound, she would immediately hear the chatter from within. Roger, the spider monkey, would commence the greeting with four shrill yelps, alerting the others that Allison had arrived. JoJo, the Chacma baboon from southern Africa, acknowledged her arrival through quick grunts and rotational flips encompassing the length of her cage. Allison loved to tease JoJo. “You should be in the olympics!”. It was Madeline, though, who pulled at Allison’s heartstrings with each and every arrival. Madeline was a four hundred and fifty pound Eastern Lowlands gorilla whose mother, father and brother were brutally killed by poachers. Although she suffered a gunshot wound to the head and was left for dead, Madeline was later found by a farmer and ultimately transported to New York for life saving cranial surgery. Allison had been her caretaker ever since and had developed a strong bond with her. With each arrival Madeline would be at the front of the cage and present Allison with a fruit that was saved from her prior meal. Today was special. A ripe peach, Madeline’s favorite, was the offering of the day.

Sam, the Common Chimpanzee from the Congo, occupied one of the cages in the rear of the compound. He stood over five feet tall and weighed one hundred and thirty two pounds. In addition to his large size, he was also very curious if not down-right mischievous. Once, while being fed, he actually grabbed the key to the cage and attempted to insert the key into the lock. Luckily, his escape attempt was thwarted. His relationship with Donald, the janitor responsible for cleaning the cages and placing food in the cages, was never the same again. As a matter of fact, Sam showed increasing aggressiveness towards him. Donald, too, would sometimes “forget” to feed Sam.

Allison monitored the general health of the group, as primates may develop many diseases similar to humans. Tuberculosis, herpes virus and salmonella were some of the afflictions that could easily kill the entire clan if left untreated. Weekly evaluations were necessary, and Allison had little difficulty with the exams as they were done under sedation. In her five years at the Zoo, no major illnesses or loss of life occurred in the Primate House. Allison was very proud of this record and thought about her unique interactions with each of the clan as she drove to work along the Bronx River Parkway. It was Saturday morning and the traffic was light. While stopped at a light on Pelham Parkway, she decided to peruse the previous day’s mail that she picked up on the way out of her apartment. It was a notice from First National Bank that caught her eye. Her request for an extension on her student loans was rejected; the bank citing rough economic times and poor loan repayment by many of their clients as reason for the rejection. Payments of six hundred and fifty dollars per month would need to continue. Unfortunately, it was money she did not have. Her savings were minimal, and there was no way that she would discuss this with her parents; she would not again give her mom the satisfaction of letting her know the error of her ways. Yes, having a man in her life would make things much easier, but she would not settle for someone just for money. While she was not expecting a knight in shining armor to ride up and carry her away, she did want someone who was caring and intelligent. She also wanted someone who made her laugh. So far, the majority of men she had met could not even hold a candle to her primate friends!

Feeling depressed, Allison decided to stop at Louie’s for one of his great calzones along with a nice, cold Yoo-Hoo prior to checking on her simian friends. Her mom was always offended that Allison would eat her pizza or calzone with a chocolate drink. She just didn’t understand. Louie, on the other hand, had been serving this combo for over forty years and welcomed Allison with a great hug…Italians do that quite often. She enjoyed sitting at the counter for lunch, watching Louie flip the pizza dough in the air. She noticed that not once did he miss the retrieval nor ever did he hit the ceiling. The aroma of the freshly fried calzone had an immediate calming affect, and the Daily News at one of the nearby tables beckoned to her. Maybe checking the classifieds for another source of income might help her economic plight. Flipping past the shootings, robberies and fraudulent dealings found on the first few pages, Allison focused in on potential income opportunities. While the majority of the ads promised ‘one thousand dollars a week working from home’, one in particular caught her eye. The ad read as follows: “Wanted, fellow researcher to take part in cell research; pays well and I come to you.” Allison recognized the phone number as a cellular line and was about to dial when the lunch from heaven arrived. First things first, the phone call could wait. There is nothing that a steaming hot cheese calzone and a Yoo-Hoo can’t help fix, thought Allison.